Shake, Rattle and Rock!

If you love Renee Zellweger, you will love her in this film. Adorable performance, bursting with winning charm and energy. Although someone named Julianna Raye is actually performing her songs, you'd never know it; she's thoroughly convincing as a piano-poundin' rock an' roller.

This TV movie comes from a series of remakes of budget 50's teen movies. It is a relatively simple tale of a battle between teenagers and their elders who think their offspring are being corrupted by rock 'n' roll. This version features some old tracks (generally remade) plus a couple of new tracks that try to mimic the old style. On screen these are performed by the then little known Renee Zellweger, although the vocal performance is by Julianna Raye. This is a must for any Zellweger fans as she lights up the small screen. Beyond that it could pass the time adequately for 'armchair rebels' or nostalgia seekers.

From the very beginning of this film, those who have any fondness of the 50s and its music know that this is a film they will enjoy. The camera work is done in such a way that it seems to bring you greatly into the emotion of the film and truly make you believe that you are there. This then carries on though the film along with some classic 50s music. It is a film in which the parents are so stereotype-hyped that they almost don't seem real, yet there is an edge to them which makes you fear that parents truly where that way. It tells the story, not only of the apparent parent inability to accept rock 'n' roll but of the social pressure against the coloured community at the time. In many ways this film seems to still talk about many issues of today and therefore this remake still has a modern edge. The only thing against this film is the fact that more was not done with the plot, therefore creating a film where you know how it will end from the first meeting we see of Susan (the main star played by Renee Zellweger) and Luck.

A great film full of romance, teenage angst, and more importantly - the 50s.

Renee Zellweger can only take a role so far. She is cute, the movie is very colorful, and the costumes are nice, but the story and the quality of the movie aren't enough to make it very good. This movie is reminiscent of "Hairspray" starring Ricki Lake. It is a low-budget film with an underdeveloped story. I wouldn't recommend it unless you love Renee Zellweger or Hairspray.

Though I have only seen this once, and frankly I wasn't impressed with the lead actress, It was great that the writer would choose to reference three characters from an earlier film about teenagers and rock and roll. P.J. Soles, Dey Young, and Mary Woranov are playing the mothers of their characters from 'Rock and Roll High School'. Forget Zellweger and go rent 'Rock and Roll High School' if you want teenage antics and a good soundtrack. By the way if John Lennon was the first "songwriter", then who wrote all those songs that came before him? And as for women playing instruments in the 50s, as an earlier review stated that they did not, apparently the reviewer has never heard of the hoards of female artists in the fifties that not only wrote their own music, but played instruments on the recordings, and live.